The present invention relates to a method of monitoring the distance between the rolls of roll pairs and the rollers of roller guides of said roll pairs in a rolling line or rolling mill that includes a plurality of mutually sequential roll units, each comprising a roll pair and a roller guide for guiding a bar section, billet or like stock into a respective roll unit, during a rolling operation.
The invention also relates to a device for use when applying the inventive method, and particularly for registering movements in the roller guide that can be later used in the monitoring process.
Rod or shapes are often rolled in a plurality of roll units co-ordinated in a rolling line with the various roll pairs arranged close together, said rolls being arranged in the rolling line in such close relationship as to make visual inspection of the rolling sequence between the roll pairs impossible to carry out. It is also possible that parts of the rolling line are enclosed in a protective casing in order to prevent cooling water from splashing from the rolls into the surroundings, among other things, which also makes inspection of the rolling result between the roll pairs impossible to carry out.
Consequently, the rolling result cannot be assessed until the rod/shape has left the rolling line, and then solely by a visual examination of the rolled product leaving said rolling line. If an adjustment needs to be made, it may be necessary to stop the rolling process so as to enable a manual adjustment to be made to one of the rolls, for instance. Hitherto, no method has been proposed by means of which a maladjusted roll in a roll unit can be determined directly. Instead, the adjustment has been made essentially with a starting point from past experiences of the machine operator and the adjustment is normally made at the place where the adjustment is expected to give the intended result.